Non-Priority Cargo Packages

[CaptainPrecious]

Hey Joe,

how about the possibility for people to collect packages that have no delivery date on them - like products that are always going to be required and don't go "bad".

That way you could start having a store of sth in your warehouse and deliver them when you find the time.

[joefremont]

Maybe. We calculate the value of cargo based on the formula we use for the 'standard' ticket price.

Right now we have Priority packages that are about 4x the standard price and start to decrease on the third day.
We also have 'Standard packages' that are about 2x the standard price and start to decrease on the 6th day.
Finally we have 'generic cargo' that is added by the system to your flight and on big aircraft will be about 0.75x times the normal price.

So how would these 'slow boat' package work? of we did them at 1x the standard price would that be enough of an incentive for airline to collect them?

Also priority packages are about 10% of the packages that are created, how many would we need to create for slow packages.

[CaptainPrecious]

I would have three possible solutions, ranked from most desirable to easiest to implement:

a) Have an interactive goods market between the players. If for example you have a base at Airport A, you can - possibly for a fee - establish a providing of a certain good for an excellent price. But, you would be required to deliver a minimum amount each week, otherwise you have to pay a penalty or you lose the contract. So you have the financial risk as well as the benefit.
To help you out, you could advertise to other pilots to bring the required good to your airport. Anyone who lands there and delivers the needed good is paid by you at a slightly lower price then what you get for it.

--> This way you would have a real-time, interactive cooperation between players.

b) Have automated factories and goods connected to cities. So town A produces coal for example and town B has a coal power plant and a continuous demand for coal (hence, there is no hurry to deliver it!) while town C, which doesn't have a coal power plant has little demand and pays less for the good.

--> That way you could plan routes to certain places, get certain goods to you base and from there distribute them to wherever they are needed.

c) Just have - additional to the priority and normal packages - "less priority" packages which don't have a time stamp on it but bring less revenue.

--> If you make several trips a week to destination A, but only one or two to destination B, you can store packages at your warehouse and decide for yourself when and how much packages you take to B (possibly with a smaller aircraft which has less cargo space!).

[CaptainPrecious]

Too complicated?

[joefremont]

Too complicated?

Yes that sounds very complicated. Besides as airlines we move what we are asked to move, if you are going into a new system of buy and selling stuff as well as producing it that sounds like a totally different game.